I'm Going To Disney World? Well, Sort Of...

I think we’ve all seen this commercial.  The winning quarterback of the Super Bowl is celebrating with his teammates, and then someone walks up to him and says, “Tom Brady! You and the New England Patriots just won the Super Bowl.  What are you going to do next?” and Tom replies “I’m going to Disney World!”  Whenever I see those commercials (which I admit haven’t starred Tom Brady in years, but my husband Wil is a die-hard Pats fan and I don’t feel  like being relegated to the couch tonight), I always wonder why they’re so excited to go away.  I mean, Disney World is fun, but more fun than winning the Super Bowl?

My confusion over this was cleared up this past Saturday.  No, I wasn’t the first woman quarterback in the NFL, I hadn’t just won the Super Bowl, and I wasn’t going to Disney World.  I was in the midst of a 10 mile run.  So where’s the connection?  Well, it was during my run on Saturday that I understood the need for some down time.

A week ago I ran the NYC Half Marathon, and though I didn’t love the race, I was quite happy with my time and actually just the mere fact that I finished it without any broken bones.  I had done most of my training on a treadmill (or one 10 mile indoor run that I ran on 4 different treadmills just to try to break up the monotony – which it didn’t), and had to miss several runs when I was at home with either sick or snowbound children.  I had felt like I hadn’t put a whole lot of effort into the race, but when I ended – and did so with a time that was completely respectable for a 45 year old with no natural athletic ability – I realized that I had actually worked pretty hard and had just been distracted by the crappy training conditions and my fear of getting injured.

The day after that half marathon, I was exhausted.  Of course, I physically hurt (hello!  I had just forced and old and naturally unathletic body to run 13.1 miles!), but I was also mentally spent.  I needed a break.  I was Tom Brady, and I needed a 1^st class ticket to Disney World.

There was a problem, though (well, other than the fact that I wasn’t Tom Brady and have actually never flown first class in my life).  I had to train for – another half marathon.  You see, back in the winter when it was cold and I was busy hopping from one treadmill at my gym to the next, it seemed like a great idea to sign up for the NYC Half Marathon in March and the MORE/Fitness Half Marathon in April (and the Brooklyn Half Marathon in May, but I really don’t want to think about that right now).  My thought was that since they were 4 weeks apart, I’d pretty much be ready for the race in April.  I’d just have to back my training plan up by 4 weeks, hit the “repeat” button and do that last month over again.  Great idea, right?  Wrong.  I now had my next half marathon looming in mid-April, and I had as much desire to train as I did to suck on a box of rusty nails.

So, here I was Saturday morning, one week after my 1^st half marathon and 3 weeks before my next one, with a 10 mile long run stretched out in front of me.  I didn’t want to do this.  That said, I knew that it had to get done and nobody was going to do it for me.  I did a quick look around to see if anyone was standing there with a plane ticket to Florida, gave a deep sigh and went on my way.

I’ll be honest.  That run was hell.  I was just too tired.  For the first mile I just couldn’t find the right pace.  At mile 2 I was way too hot and had to take my jacket off and tie it around my waist.  By mile 3 I developed some sensory integration issues and got annoyed with the jacket around my waist.  At mile 6 I had absolutely nothing left in the tank. I had taken a gel one mile before, but it didn’t help at all.  But, I knew I couldn’t give up.  That’s just not what I do anymore. I quickly cursed myself for no longer being a quitter, and told myself that even though this run sucked, I was still going to complete it.

I did change my course up a little so as to avoid the two hills I would have hit at mile 7 and that I refer to as “That [Expletive] Hill” and “That Other [Expletive] Hill”, but I got through all 10 miles. My time was way slower than the race I had done the weekend before, but I wasn’t out for time.  I was out to train for my next half marathon and to remind myself that when I say I’m going to do something, I do it, even if it feels like it's too much to handle.    Fat Girl would get overwhelmed and quit all the time, but she wasn’t invited on Saturday’s long run.

When I got home, I went in the kitchen to make my ceremonial post-run breakfast (toast with peanut butter and a banana sliced on top, and a cup of coffee so big that I could climb into if I wanted and drink it from the inside out).  While I was stretching (I had plenty of time before I ate; a cup of coffee big enough to climb into takes some time to brew)  He asked, “How was your run?”  My reply: “Almost as much fun as going to Disney World.”